I love my bread machine. However when the bread is done baking, removing it from the machine breaks the bread where the paddle is. I know the paddle is embedded in the bread and it will break the bread a little. I am looking for ideas on how to prevent it or at least make it smaller.

Should I:

Remove the paddle before the second rising/the baking?

Oil the paddle before I add the ingredients? (tried it, does not work very well)

I love my bread machine, it's great time saving "cheat" but I never bake in it. I like my loaves looking like I actually baked them. It's just a tiny extra step to let the bread maker do all of the hard work then shape the loaves and bake them in the oven.

I'm afraid the best answer might be to upgrade your bread machine. Newer designs have paddle shapes designed to minimise breaking the bread. I've even seen paddles that fold flat when they're not moving so as to not even get stuck in the bread. No idea how well that works.